ABI, home loan rates rise in April: 3.43%
Loans to businesses and households continue to grow: +2.7 % year-on-year
In April, the average rate charged by banks on new financing transactions rose: for businesses to 3.62% (from 3.26% in the previous month), for home purchases to 3.43% (from 3.36% in March). This was indicated in the monthly Abi report. The average rate charged on total loans, i.e. those taken out over the years, was 4.02% from 3.98% in the previous month.
Loans still rising for households and businesses
The amount of loans to businesses and households continued to grow: in April it marked +2.7% year-on-year, accelerating from +2.4% in March. The amount reached 1,300 billion euro.
The path set in March 2025 is thus confirmed, but for the future it will be necessary to see the impact on demand resulting from the duration of the war between Iran and the US. According to the deputy CEO of the banking association Gianfranco Torriero, the focus "in the coming months will be on the effect on demand, especially business investment and the dynamics of GDP" that will determine the trend in bank loans.
For households it is the 16th consecutive month of increase, while for businesses it is the 10th consecutive month of loan growth. Loans to households increased by 2.7 per cent, while those to businesses rose by 2.8 per cent.
In March net impaired loans fell to EUR 26.9 billion
The level of impaired loans continued to fall: they amounted to EUR 26.9 billion in March 2026, down from EUR 27.7 billion in December 2025. The maximum level of impaired loans (calculated as the sum of non-performing loans, probable defaults and exposures past due and/or in arrears calculated net of write-downs and provisions already made by banks) was reached in 2015 at 196.3 billion.
